It is Monday afternoon here in Thailand. The team left Chiang Mai last night at 8:30pm (Thailand time). They should be landing in Chicago at 9:30am on Monday (CST).
We had an amazing week! We did two full days and a morning of clinics in the villages. The first clinic was in Mae Tae, the village where we stayed for 3 nights. We saw & treated around 200 people that day. The second clinic was in Piang Luang. We also saw & treated around 200 people at this clinic. During the morning clinic we saw around 35 people. The conditions we treated were gastrointestinal issues, allergies & colds, pneumonia, and a lot of aches & pain. Kristen removed fatty cysts from 4 different people. We also gave swine flu vaccines & fluoride treatments. We were not able to get the typhoid vaccine from customs, so please pray for guidance & wisdom that we will either get our money back or be able to use the vaccine somewhere in the near the future. We also used Sunday school lessons to teach around 60 kids throughout the week.
The last two nights we stayed in Mae Tae we had a time of devotion & worship at different houses. The first night we went to a traveling evangelist's house, Barnabas. The second night we went to the chief of the village's house. Both nights were wonderful nights of fellowship with our Lisu Brothers & Sisters in Christ!
The last two mornings in Mae Tae, Brian, Robbie, & Todd went wild rooster hunting with guides from the village. They didn't shoot anything, but heard some roosters. The Lisu people don't hunt for sport, but are hunting for their food.
We returned to Chiang Mai on Friday. It was about a 3 hour drive. When we got back Brian, Robbie, Todd, & Terry helped the contractors mix concrete & pour the floor in the new addition at the Gospel Center. They worked for about 3 hours! There was only one minor mishap when Robbie got a piece of wire in the side of his foot.
On Friday night we all went out to eat at Pizza Hut & shopped at the Night Bazaar. The pizza was actually pretty good! We all got pretty good at negotiating prices & got some good deals!
Saturday morning we had another clinic at Bethlehem Gospel Center (Stephen & Mary's). We saw & treated around 20 people. Most of them were evangelists that work with Stephen. We were out of most of the medicine from the previous clinics, so we wrote down what everyone needed & went to the pharmacy in the afternoon. I (Alicia) went with Stephen around noon to the airport to pick up Tim & David, who came as representatives of ACMI, the missionary sending organization I am a member of. They came to Chiang Mai to meet Stephen & build a relationship with him, & work out some details.
Saturday night a group went up to Doi Sothup, a Buddhist temple on the side of a mountain. We all took a cable care up to the temple. Todd, Becky, Janice, Simeon, & Alicia walked down the steps. Becky counted & from the top of the temple to the road, there were 295 steps! After that, we all then met at a buffet, which had raw food to cook in Korean barbecue style, or food already cooked. It was very interesting! We are guessing there were over 1,000 people there. They also had entertainment. After eating, a few people went back to the Night Bazaar to finish getting souvenirs.
Sunday morning we went to a Presbyterian church, only in name, that follows New Testament doctrine. David preached the sermon on what the church is supposed to look like: first, loving God above all, & second, following the Great Commission. It was a great message for both the American church & the Thai church! Following the service, we had lunch with the church members. It was delicious!
Sunday afternoon was spent packing & getting ready for the team to leave. We had a devotion time together right before leaving for the airport.
Overall, we had an amazing week! It is such a blessing to be able to spend time & serve the Thai people. They are an amazing people in a beautiful country, so grateful & thankful for the help we provided for them! We may not see the results of the work we did, but we planted many seeds for the evangelists to follow up with. God also blessed each one in our group with this opportunity to learn & to grow in Him.
Thank you all SO much for your love & support in our preparing for this trip & during this trip. We couldn't have done it without your help. May God bless each & every one of you for that.
If you would like to hear more or have questions, please don't hesitate to talk to a member of the Mission Team. We would all love to share our stories, our experience, & our reason for going with you.
Serving Him,
The ACC Mission Team
Alicia will remain in Thailand until March 4th. If you would like to read more about her stay, visit her blog at http://www.ajcrabtree.blogspot.com/
Monday, February 14, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday & Monday Update
Sunday was a great day! In the morning we went to a Christian church that was in the middle of Chiang Mai's Red Light district. They sang many songs for us & had a new gospel band, Hosanna, sing for us. Brian preached the sermon & Stephen translated for him. We also sang 4 songs for them during special music. After service, they served us lunch at the church. Thai people are such gracious hosts! On our way back home we stopped at a day market.
Most of the congregation were former prostitues & still living in the area. So, they asked us to pray for two things for them. First, that they would be able to find a full-time minister. Second, that they would be able to come up with a plan to move to a new location away from their bad habits & build a new church there so that they have room to grow.
In the afternoon, Stephen had a meeting with this church to discuss a plan. He then taught a graduate class on 1 Corinthians. We had a small church service with just our team & a few of our new Thai friends in the evening. Stephen asked if anyone had a testimony they wanted to share of how God had blessed them so we could praise Him together. A man stood up & told of how on our last trip, his mother-in-law had been really sick & the Thai doctors told her she would only live 1, maybe 2 months. She came to one of our clinics & we treated her. She then lived 15 months & just passed away last month. He told us that because we helped him, he was going to sacrifice his time & drive us around this week while we're here.
Kristen & Ellen arrived around 11:00pm Sunday night & had no trouble the whole way here! Praise God for their safe travels!
Monday started by watching the Super Bowl. We didn't watch for very long because we wanted to get set up for an afternoon clinic at the Training Center. We were going to go to the bank to exchange money, pick up the swine flu vaccine, & go to the pharmacy in the morning before having the clinic in the afternoon. Well, as soon as we started setting up, people started coming in. So, we saw patients in the morning, wrote down what they needed to be treated with, & they waited until the afternoon to pick up their medicine. A group went to pick up the vaccine while we were running clinic, so people got the vaccine in the morning.
After lunch, we went to the pharmacy & got all of the medication they had that we needed. When we got back to the Training Center, we packaged up the medicine & passed it out to everyone who waited several hours for it.
Our day finished with a Korean barbecue, which is sitting around a charcoal fire in a bucket & grilling different meats on a tin that looks like a hubcap with slits in it. Around the edge is boiling water to put Chinese cabbage, morning glory, & meatballs in to boil. We all sat around & cooked our food & ate with chopsticks! It was SO delicious!
We're now packing everything to head to the village tomorrow, Tuesday. The ride is about 3-4 hours away up a mountain. Stephen says it will take a lot out of us so we will just have clinic on Wednesday & Thursday and come back to Chiang Mai on Friday. We more than likely won't have internet service in the village, so check back for more updates on Friday.
A couple things to be praying about:
- That we will be able to get the typhoid vaccine from customs before we go to the village
- Safe travels to & from the village
- That God would prepare the hearts & minds of those we will see in the village. The village is not a Christian village, so we will be reaching many people who do not know Christ.
Serving Him,
The ACC Mission Team
Most of the congregation were former prostitues & still living in the area. So, they asked us to pray for two things for them. First, that they would be able to find a full-time minister. Second, that they would be able to come up with a plan to move to a new location away from their bad habits & build a new church there so that they have room to grow.
In the afternoon, Stephen had a meeting with this church to discuss a plan. He then taught a graduate class on 1 Corinthians. We had a small church service with just our team & a few of our new Thai friends in the evening. Stephen asked if anyone had a testimony they wanted to share of how God had blessed them so we could praise Him together. A man stood up & told of how on our last trip, his mother-in-law had been really sick & the Thai doctors told her she would only live 1, maybe 2 months. She came to one of our clinics & we treated her. She then lived 15 months & just passed away last month. He told us that because we helped him, he was going to sacrifice his time & drive us around this week while we're here.
Kristen & Ellen arrived around 11:00pm Sunday night & had no trouble the whole way here! Praise God for their safe travels!
Monday started by watching the Super Bowl. We didn't watch for very long because we wanted to get set up for an afternoon clinic at the Training Center. We were going to go to the bank to exchange money, pick up the swine flu vaccine, & go to the pharmacy in the morning before having the clinic in the afternoon. Well, as soon as we started setting up, people started coming in. So, we saw patients in the morning, wrote down what they needed to be treated with, & they waited until the afternoon to pick up their medicine. A group went to pick up the vaccine while we were running clinic, so people got the vaccine in the morning.
After lunch, we went to the pharmacy & got all of the medication they had that we needed. When we got back to the Training Center, we packaged up the medicine & passed it out to everyone who waited several hours for it.
Our day finished with a Korean barbecue, which is sitting around a charcoal fire in a bucket & grilling different meats on a tin that looks like a hubcap with slits in it. Around the edge is boiling water to put Chinese cabbage, morning glory, & meatballs in to boil. We all sat around & cooked our food & ate with chopsticks! It was SO delicious!
We're now packing everything to head to the village tomorrow, Tuesday. The ride is about 3-4 hours away up a mountain. Stephen says it will take a lot out of us so we will just have clinic on Wednesday & Thursday and come back to Chiang Mai on Friday. We more than likely won't have internet service in the village, so check back for more updates on Friday.
A couple things to be praying about:
- That we will be able to get the typhoid vaccine from customs before we go to the village
- Safe travels to & from the village
- That God would prepare the hearts & minds of those we will see in the village. The village is not a Christian village, so we will be reaching many people who do not know Christ.
Serving Him,
The ACC Mission Team
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Saturday Update
We made it to Chiang Mai with no problems...well one small hold up in customs, but we made it through with everything! There were several people at the airport with Stephen & Mary to pick us up & take us to the Christian Training Center. After unloading all of our luggage, we went straight to bed & all had a good night's sleep!
This morning (Friday night US time) we got up & ate a great breakfast before going to an Elephant Training Camp. Some of us rode the elephants through the jungle & then rode an ox-driven cart. The others who didn't ride went to a nearby village where they were having a dance ceremony for their gods & spirits, which they said was quite interesting.
When we got back to the Christian Training Center we ate lunch then sorted out all of the medications, medical supplies, & toys that we brought with us.
Tomorrow (Saturday night US time), we will be going to a church in the Red Light district in the morning & having church services here at the Christian Training Center in the evening.
We do have some very important prayer requests. First, please pray for Kristen & Ellen's safety as they fly to Chiang Mai today (Saturday US time). Also, there have been issues getting the rest of the money we wired over here. The bank shows that it has been wired, but the money is not showing up in the account when we try to get it out. This is the money that will be used to purchase the rest of the medication from the pharmacy. Please also pray that on Monday (Sunday night US time) we will be able to get the typhoid vaccine out of customs. We purchased the vaccine prior to coming here & had it shipped over, but the FDA is holding it in customs.
Thank you all for your prayers! We are definitely being blessed by them.
Serving Him,
The ACC Mission Team
This morning (Friday night US time) we got up & ate a great breakfast before going to an Elephant Training Camp. Some of us rode the elephants through the jungle & then rode an ox-driven cart. The others who didn't ride went to a nearby village where they were having a dance ceremony for their gods & spirits, which they said was quite interesting.
When we got back to the Christian Training Center we ate lunch then sorted out all of the medications, medical supplies, & toys that we brought with us.
Tomorrow (Saturday night US time), we will be going to a church in the Red Light district in the morning & having church services here at the Christian Training Center in the evening.
We do have some very important prayer requests. First, please pray for Kristen & Ellen's safety as they fly to Chiang Mai today (Saturday US time). Also, there have been issues getting the rest of the money we wired over here. The bank shows that it has been wired, but the money is not showing up in the account when we try to get it out. This is the money that will be used to purchase the rest of the medication from the pharmacy. Please also pray that on Monday (Sunday night US time) we will be able to get the typhoid vaccine out of customs. We purchased the vaccine prior to coming here & had it shipped over, but the FDA is holding it in customs.
Thank you all for your prayers! We are definitely being blessed by them.
Serving Him,
The ACC Mission Team
Friday, February 4, 2011
Almost There...
We have finished the longest part of our trip...the 14 hour flight from Chicago to Seoul, Korea! We now have a 2 hour layover in Korea, then a 6 hour flight to Chiang Mai.
Thanks so much for all your prayers! We have had no trouble at all so far!
Will post again as soon as we can from Chiang Mai :)
Serving Him,
The ACC Mission Team
Thanks so much for all your prayers! We have had no trouble at all so far!
Will post again as soon as we can from Chiang Mai :)
Serving Him,
The ACC Mission Team
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